5.  The applicant was born in 1957 and lives in Sarnów.
6.  The applicant is married and has two children. Prior to his application for an early‑retirement pension he had been employed for 25 years and had paid social security contributions to the State.
7.  In July 2001 the applicant filed an application with the Rzeszów Social Security Board (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych) to be granted the right to an early‑retirement pension for persons raising children who, due to the seriousness of their health condition, required constant care, the so‑called “EWK” pension.
8.  Along with his application for a pension, the applicant submitted, among other documents concerning his son’s health condition, a medical certificate issued by a specialist medical centre on 15 May 2001. The certificate stated that the child (born in 1994) suffered from mild asthma and bronchitis (astma oskrzelowa lagodna i spastyczne zapalenie oskrzeli) and that he was in need of his parent’s constant care.
9.  On 9 August 2001 the Rzeszów Social Security Board (“the SSB”) issued a decision granting the applicant the right to an early‑retirement pension as of 1 July 2001 in the net amount of 685 Polish zlotys (PLN).
10.  On 20 August 2002 the Rzeszów Social Security Board asked the Main Social Security Board’s doctor (Główny Lekarz Orzecznik) to inform it whether the applicant’s son required the permanent care of a parent. On 13 September 2002 the doctor stated that, on the basis of the medical documents, the child could not be considered as ever having required such care.
11.  On 19 September 2002 the Rzeszów Social Security Board issued simultaneously two decisions in respect of the applicant. By virtue of one decision, the payment of the applicant’s pension was discontinued with immediate effect. By virtue of the other decision, the Board reopened the proceedings, revoked the initial decision granting a pension and eventually refused to grant the applicant the right to an early‑retirement pension under the scheme provided for by the 1989 Ordinance.
12.  The applicant appealed against the respective decisions divesting him of the right to an early‑retirement pension. He submitted that he should receive the benefit because his child required constant care, as confirmed by the medical certificate attached to the applicant’s original application for a pension. Moreover, the applicant alleged that the revocation of his retirement pension was contrary to the principle of vested rights.
13.  On 29 May 2003 the Tarnobrzeg Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) dismissed the appeal. The Regional Court concluded on the basis of the evidence that the applicant’s child did not require his father’s permanent care since his health condition did not significantly impair his bodily functions. The domestic court held that the applicant had been rightfully divested of his right to a pension under the scheme provided by the 1989 Ordinance as he did not satisfy the requirement of necessary permanent care.
14.  The applicant further appealed against the first‑instance judgment.
15.  On 20 November 2003 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) dismissed the appeal.
16.  On 29 April 2004 the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) refused to entertain the cassation appeal lodged by the applicant.
17.  Following the social security proceedings the applicant was not ordered to return his early‑retirement benefits paid by the Social Security Board, despite the revocation of his right to an early‑retirement pension.
18.  The applicant submitted that after revocation of the EWK pension he remained unemployed until April 2007. During this time he received no social or unemployment benefits. His wife had been employed seasonally as a heating system operator in schools. They owned a farm which was too small to qualify them for the social security scheme for farmers and from which they derived no income.
19.  The Government submitted that the applicant took up employment in April 2007. They failed to specify the amount of his salary. However, after 2007 the family’s yearly income increased from PLN 6,000 (approx. 1,400 euros (EUR)) to PLN 30,000 (approx. EUR 7,000). The applicant’s wife worked between 2001 and 2010 during the winter months only. The Government maintained that the applicant’s wife also owned a small farm which might have constituted an additional source of income.
20.  In addition, the Government submitted information as regards the various types of social benefits available in Poland. However, they did not specify which of those benefits, if any, were available in the applicant’s situation.
21.  Under the relevant laws currently in force, it appears that the applicant will qualify for a regular retirement pension in 2022.
22.  Some 130 applications arising from a similar fact pattern have been brought to the Court. The majority of the applicants form the Association of Victims of the SSB (Stowarzyszenie Osób Poszkodowanych przez ZUS) (“the Association”), an organisation monitoring the practices of the Social Security Board in Poland, in particular in the Podkarpacki region.
23.  Out of all applications lodged with the Court, about twenty‑four applicants decided not to lodge a cassation appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal given in their case.
24.  One hundred‑and‑four applicants lodged cassation appeals against the final judgments given in their cases. The Supreme Court entertained and dismissed on the merits fifteen appeals. In eighty‑one applications the Supreme Court refused to entertain cassation appeals on the ground that they did not raise any important legal issues or require the Supreme Court to give a new interpretation to legal provisions which raised serious doubts or gave rise to ambiguity in the jurisprudence of the domestic courts. In the remaining eight cases cassation appeals were rejected for failure to comply with various procedural requirements.